Ravi Agarwal

Ravi Agarwal is an artist, environmental activist, writer and curator. He has pursued an art practice integrally with his other pursuits. He is the founder of the well known Indian NGO Toxics Link and has been internationally awarded for his work. His earlier work, in the documentary oeuvre, encompasses ‘nature’, ‘work,’ ‘labour,’ and the ‘street,’ while more recent work has been traversing questions of the self and ecological sustainability based on explorations of ‘personal ecologies.’ He now works with photography, video and installation.

Agarwal has shown in several international shows including Documenta XI (2002), Kassel , Germany, Horn Please (Berne 2007) Indian Highway (2009 ongoing) as well as several national shows and solo shows. Agarwal recently co-curated a twin city public art show, Yamuna-Elbe.Public.Art.Outreach. He writes extensively on ecological issues, and is also founder of the leading Indian environmental NGO Toxics Link. He is an Engineer by training.

Flux: Dystopia, Utopia, Heterotopia

by Ravi Agarwal

Is nature only an idea? Maybe it does not exist, but is only produced as a ‘view.’ Created solely through our social, poetic and political selves, nature becomes an imaginary repository of contemporary times. The ecological crisis cannot be ‘fixed’ as a return to Paradise, but needs a fundamental re-evaluation